Apparatus for making tires



v............. www n June 13, 1933. H. F. SQHIPPEL APPARATUS FOR MAKING TIRES Fild Jan. 8, 195o Patented June 13, 1933 1 liATi-:NTA OFFICE f HENRY E. scnrrifnr..A orAnRfoN, orafo, AssIGNoR 'ro THE nr. GoonRICH COMPANY- Y.

. or. `NEW Yoan, N..Y.,A,coRroRA'r1oN,or NEW YORK VAri?Ann'rus 'ron MAKING TIRES l vApplication med January s, 1930. serial No. 419,328.

l `This invention ,relates to tires and to Yapparatus for making.y thesame, and moreves-l pecially it relates to unvulcanized pneumatic tirecasings and 'to the. building formson Which they are fabricatedi Y The inventionhas its `primary utility in the manufacture of tires Which iny theirgiinished form have relatively small bead diameters 'as compared With tread diameters. Such tires` When Vmade by the pulleydoand, or ,drum-built method require excessive circumferential.stretching to shape themVV to tire form, With the-i result that there is ex cessive angular'l'distortion of the tire fabric l? at the'tread portion of the tires and substantialseparation 'of adjacent cords in the re* spective fabric plies. 'The initial buildingA of such tires in final tire shape is impractical because of the difficultyV of removing the building 'forms from the tires lthrough their relatively small bead openings..

The chief objects of this invention are to provide an unvulcanized tire structure of the character mentioned which may be built upon an easily removable form or core; to provide such a structure which may be shaped to final form Without harmful stretching and angular distortion of its lfabric carcass plies; and to provide a building form WhichV is easily removable from a tire having relatively small bead diameter. Other objects will be manifest.

Of the accompanying drawing:l

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section through my improved tire-building apparatus, and my improved tire built thereupon.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of my tire-building form, and a tire yin section thereupon showing the manner of initiating the removal of the form from the tire.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view similar to Fig. 2 showing the subsequent position of the form during its removal from the tire.

Fig. 4 is a section on line 4 4 of Fig. l. f Fig. 5 is a section through an unfinished tire built according to my inventiornthe' shape of the tire in finishedV form being indicated therein.

' Referring to the drawing, 10 is the rotata- 00 ble spindle of a tire-building machine (not prises a single continuous strip or band 13 stretching isprelatively small as'compared toV shown) of preferred or .known construction,

11 is a tire-building lform orv core mounted` upon said spindle, and 12 is a tirev casing.` builtupon'the form 11. The formll com@ of flexible material, such as rubberized fab,-;V ric or belting, arranged `in a plurality ,offz superposed .spira1 convolutions.k The lead-V ing end of the strip'l Yis directed radially inward and mounted in a radial 1 slot 14 formed in the spindle` 10 and extending.. longitudinally from one end thereof, and thetrailing end of the strip is disposed on), the outer face of the Wrapped structure and' adhered thereto in any suitable manner as by an adhesive strip or tape 15, Fig. 2. The f direction ofthe wraps of the strip 13 upon the spindle 10 is such that the Wraps are noti loosened by the frotation of the sp1nd1e-dur ing the building of a tire on the form.4

rIn shape the form 1l is cylindrical inl its middle region, and its endsvor lateral portions are frusto-conical. This effect is at-.J tained by. using a form-strip 13 `which is substantially ,uniformly tapered froml one end tothe'other, the Wide end ofthe strip being on the inside of the coiled form.

The proportions of the respective surfacesv of the form l1 are governed by the tire toL be builtthereon. Considering the shape of av finished tire .as tore' or torus, those por@ tions 'of-.the tire. 12 built upon the frusto-y conical end portions of the form 11 constix Vtute those portions of the finished tire which.

are insidevits toroidal diameter,iand the portion of the tire 12builtiupon the cylindrical middle Y portion of. thel form constitutes the portion outside the toroidal: diameter of the finishedv tire asshown in Fig. 5. Thus inr the subsequent shaping, of thel tire casing `12 90 tovlinished .tore form, as indicated by thej broken lines in 'Fig.-5, only themedial, cyiy lindricalportionof the tire casing requires to be distended yor stretched, and such the amount ofstretch required to form the usual flat drum-built-tire vto'toreshape, With the result that there is lessl angular: distortion of the carcasscords inapplicants struc@ ture'. y 1m ln the operation of applicants apparatus, the form-strip 13 being mounted upon the spindle in convoluted condition as a tirebuilding form 11, with its inner end mounted in the slot 141: in said spindle, the latter is caused to rotate and the tire 12- is built upon said form. in the usual'or preferred manner. Then the form 11 with the tirev 12 thereon is removed from the spindle 10 by sliding the form axially of the spindle, and a rotatable tool 16, of relatively small diameter as compared with the spindle 1.0,.and formed with a recess or closed-end slot 17 in its end portion, is inserted into the axial aperture in the form 11 and manipulated to engagetheend of lthe strip 13 in 'its slot 17.' The tool 16 is then rotated to wrap the strip 13 about it .and `is then withdrawn from the form, thus .drawing the large end of the strip 13 with it, as is clearly shown in Fig. 2.` Once the end of the strip 13 is with-- drawn from the form, the tool 16 may be disengaged therefrom and the strip twisted and pulled Vtrom the tire l2 in the form ot a Q flfvhelix, theconvolutions of which are spaced apart (as shown in Fig. 3), so as to permit them to pass through the opening at the bead portion of the tire. The strip 13 may berewound by mounting its leading end in fthe slot 14 of the spindle 10 and then rotating'the latter while guiding the strip 13 ac'- curately thereonto. The operation as de# scribed may then be repeated.

Medilications may be resorted to without departing from the scope of my invention as'ldo not limit my claims Wholly to the exact construction of product or apparatus shown and described. l

I claim:

1. A tire-building form of generally cylindrical shape having tapered end portions, said form comprising a plurality of superposed convolutions of a single continuous strip of material.

l" "2. A tire-building form comprising a continuous strip of flexible material arranged in a plurality of superposed convolutions which are disposed longitudinally of a tire built thereupon.

3.' A tirebuilding form comprising a continuous strip of flexible material arranged in a plurality of superposed convolutions,

said strip vrbeing substantially uniformly` tapered in width from one end to the other.

'i 4. A tire-building form comprising a continuous strip of flexible materialarranged` in va plurality of superposed convolutions, and'means for securing the end of the outer convolution to the underlying structure.

' 5. A tire-building form comprising a continuous strip of flexible material arranged in a plurality of superposed convolutions, they end portion of the innermost convolution being directed radially inward.

6. Tire-building apparatus comprising a rotatable spindle, a tire-building form mounted coaxially thereon and comprising a plurality of superposed convolutions of a continuous strip of flexible material, and means for preventing relative angular movement of the spindle and form.V

7. Tire-buildingapparatus comprising a rotatable spindle formed with a longitudinal slot, and a tire-building form comprising superposed convolutions of a strip of flexible materialmounted thereon, the inner end of said strip being mounted in said slot.

8. Tire-'building apparatus comprising a generally cylindrical tire-building form having end portions of such a radial depth as to permit the building of a tire thereupon such that the toroidal diameter of the tiref after it is distended to tore shape is substandepth as to permit the building of a tire thereupon such that the toroidal diameter or" the tire after it is distended to tore shape is substantially the same as the diameter ofA the cylindrical portion of the form.

ln witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 4th day of January, 1930.

HENRY F. SCHIPPEL. 

